Taking our Granddaughters to Europe
 

We are actually flying into London, spending 2 days, taking the chunnel to Paris, spending 2 days, thinking of taking a sleeper train to Venice, spending 2 days, and 2 days in Switzerland. Want to do 10-12 days total and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for great places for 16 year old girls. Thanks, Joyce

Are you sure the youngsters are not going to go ballistic and antsy on those long train trips, cooped up, with so little time in those cities in between? Seems like too much moving and not enough staying put to enjoy the locales.

Why not fly into Venice, fly home from Paris, and spend a bit more time in each place? Check the Multicity option on airline search sites.

I think that you will all have trouble keeping up the pace. I also think you will have trouble getting the girls to leave Paris no matter how enticing the next destination. Slow down and let the girls enjoy London and Paris.

That is such a hard question because it all depends on what sites you want to see, is there something special the girls want to see in each place (like my first trip to London, there was no way I was going to leave that city without seeing the Tower of London), what you travel style is, etc. For me personally, I would not like to have such a short time in those places and there is a lot of traveling. I would do two cities like London/Paris or Paris/Venice. But that's ME, and may not suit you and your granddaughters at all. Have your granddaughters done any research or given you any idea if there a things that are of special interest to them?

2 days in London?
2 days in Paris?
too short for sure.
I would forget about Switzerland
How about :
4-5 days London, 4 days Paris and 2-3 days Venice

Agree that you are spending way too much time in transit versus the amount of time actualy seing/doing things. We took my 2 step-daughters (11 and 14) to London and Paris (5 days each) and there were tons more things they wanted to see/do in each place. But while they really enjoyed London they LOVED Paris.

Your plan is nearly unworkable. As the other say - if you are only talking about 10-12 you shouldn't be spending 2.5+ days of that on trains.

London and Paris is good for that length a trip (though it is still rushed). Or Paris/Venice is good -- but since you are already flying into London just do London and Paris.

Forget Italy, forget Switzerland, the trainn trips except for the Eurostar to Paris.

Do you already have your flights booked? If no, open jaw into London and out of Paris would be better than round trip to London.

Your plan is nearly unworkable. As the other say - if you are only talking about 10-12 days you shouldn't be spending 2.5+ days of that on trains.

London and Paris is good for that length a trip (though it is still rushed). Or Paris/Venice is good -- but since you are already flying into London just do London and Paris.

Forget Italy, forget Switzerland, the trainn trips except for the Eurostar to Paris.

Do you already have your flights booked? If no, open jaw into London and out of Paris would be better than round trip to London.

3 days in London
5 days in Paris
3 days in Venice

You MUST leave time for shopping.

Do the girls have any partucular interests? Have they studied one European country more than another? Have they studied a foreign language that they will want to try out? Have they been to Europe before?

sorry - don't know how that double post happened.

Anyway - IMHO if you are only going to be in London 2 or 3 days It might actually be better to skip it and just fly directly on to either Paris or Venice.

reason being - London is HUGE and has soooooooo much that 16 yo's would enjoy. But (assuming you are flying in long haul) day 1 will probably be a jet lagged fog, and then you only have 1 day to really see/do anything.

For even a taste of London you really do need more time.

Hi Joyce,

I agree that it is too much to do in 10 days; if I were arranging it I'd do the following:

Fly to London, spend three days there. Highlights to include
- shopping in Oxford Street starting at Oxford Circus and walking a small distance west - including Topshop Oxford Circus, Accessorise, Zara and H&M.
- seeing a musical
- if you're there when it's open, doing the tour of Buckingham palace, booking online in advance to avoid the queues. This is MUCH better than the changing of the guard (as a Londoner I roll my eyes in disbelief at the tourist obsession with the changing of the guard)
- The Tower
What are your grand-daughters' interests? There's so much to do in London that it's easier to make suggestions with a few pointers.

Then I'd take the easyjet flight from Gatwick to Venice for a couple of days. Gatwick is pretty convenient from central London and you can get a cheap one-way fare on easyjet. Venice is so magical that even though this is a bit of a trek I would do it. Once you get there the setting is the main thing for your grand-daughters to appreciate, but as is frequently mentioned on this board it's fun to do the secret itinerary tour of the Doges Palace. The other main tourist options in Venice are well-documented; gondola rides, glass-blowing etc...

Then, Ryanair do a flight from Venice to Paris. I've never taken this route so a bit of research would be required into how much of a pain it is to get to/from the airports involved. But it'd be a quicker way to travel than the train. I'm not as much of a Paris fan as most of this board so I won't try to make recommendation; when I visited it as a 14 year old I think I was unimpressed by the art and food and only enjoyed Galeries Lafayette and the Eiffel Tower! (Now I love the galleries but aged 16 I probably wouldn't have).

Eurostar (the Chunnel) is a good way to get back from Paris. If you get a premium economy ticket it doesn't cost much more and you get a decent meal on the train; this would be a fun way to pass the journey. It's sometimes cheaper to buy a return ticket and not use the return half rather than buy a single.

I've missed Switzerland out; I know that as a teenager I found Switzerland seriously dull (yes I was a typical sulky teen...). Unless there's a particular reason for visiting Switzerland I'd miss it out just because you don't have much time and it's not as big a destination as Paris, Venice and London.

Looks very idealistic to me. Impractical all around, not least of which is two generations distant.

A touristy menu for the young at heart:
Start by visiting the Tower of London NOT missing the crown jewels,which young girls LOVE, they are soooo sparkly.

Then take a boat from tower pier to Westminster pier.

Don't miss the London Eye(over the bridge from Westminster and the Houses of Parliament) which is bookable online.
(Next to the london eye is the London Aquarium if you need a diversion where you can get up close to sharks and stroke rays, but I digress.)There's a Macdo here if you need to eat.

Cross back over westminster bridge and walk up whitehall, past a heavily guarded downing street on your left and pose for a photo with the ruggedly handsome horseguards on duty outside the horseguards barracks a bit further up on the left.( this is a great girly/ teenage trophy for when you get home depending on how handsome the guard and/or horse is).
If they enjoy feeding pigeons and ducks you can nip through the archway behind the horsemen/guards, and walk across the horseguards parade ground to St James's park where you can feed all manner of fowl. there's a passable cafe here.

A little further on at the top of whitehall is trafalgar square,where they can pose with/on the lions,and the national gallery at the top with all sorts of famous paintings they might have come across. The gift shop is also nice though I don't recommend the eating in the gallery itself as it tends to be overpriced and pretentious.

Turn left out of the gallery and walk up Haymarket to Piccadilly Circus. Planet Hollywood or the Rainforest cafe are very cool with the teens I know.

Shopping is a must for this age group; you have two options now(if you have any feet left!- did I mention COMFORTABLE SHOES?). You can walk up regent's Street calling into Lberty on the way to Oxford St. and its shops. If you cut right off regents street into beak steet you'll find the Carnaby Street precinct has been pretied up and has lots of boutiques and little shops that girls adore. Of course the seedier Soho 'nightclub' district is nearby so be careful how far you stray into the little streets here.
Or your second option is to walk along Piccadilly and call in at Fortnum and mason for those deluxe groceries to take home. Further along Piccadilly on the right is New Bond Street with some lovely shop windows. We find Fenwick a good way up on the righthandside has a good selection of fashionable clothes and accessories at reasonable prices.

If you want something for the evening the Imax is cool with the girls st the moment, though they'll probably be too exhausted.

On the second day!!! take a bus tour(or buy a zone 1 day pass and use the tube if you want to pay less) and get off at Madame Tussauds(tickets also prebookable online). then get back on the bus and make sure you see Buckingham Palace and St Pauls on the way round. St Pauls is worth a look inside and the views from the whispering gallery inside and the dome outside are a good talking point but are exhausting. If the weather's nice when you come out you can walk down the hill on the righthandside of the cathedral to the river Thames and the Millennium bridge which does not rock, and have a look at the view. The Bank of England has a little museum atteched which my daughter enjoyed, you can touch a real gold bar and see a million pound note. but I'd take the tube-sorry-subway to get there.

hope this helps, weather may alter your plans but it's what has worked for me with that age group!

You should try going to the Tower of London, great historical information and the crown jewels are great. Afterwards, there is an amazing Japanese Noodle shop just across the street that is yummy!

In my honest opinion this schedule would be a killer, for any age, including teens. I understand wanting to see several places, but that is all you will do "see", not experience much of anything except trains and probably grumpy kids after the 3rd day.

With such a short time (and 10-12 days is short, remember the day of arrival is usually kind of a "lost day" due to jetlag) why not do just London & Paris? Give yourselves a chance to actually see something. The Eurostar between London & Paris takes 2.35 hrs, so that's fine. Unless your gradkids are unique (and I worked in Education with lots of kids) they will not be overjoyed with 10-12 solid days with grandparents. It's a nice thought, but it is not realistic in my mind.

Have the kids done any research on what they want to see/do ? If not get them doing it. I've seen my fair share of bored looking kids at famous sights.